Hillingdon Prince

Fine for one night stay. Very close to the Oracle shopping centre. Good, safe neighbourhood. Very pleasant staff. Lovely Victorian building. Inside it needs a little tlc here and there - the carpets on the stairs are in a bad way. But when we went there the hall ways smelt fresh and recently cleaned. Our room was basic but absolutely fine for the price - £39 for a night. Bed was a tad hard but ok. Room and en suite were all clean and tidy. Bar is ok - we had a quick night cap there - not a huge range- especially of whiskies. Breakfast - we had the continental was satisfactory - £5.90 a head. However, the menu advertised the croissants as fresh from a local bakery - er..no..they were of the long life variety that you get in cellophane packets. The range of cheeses were just small sticks of processed cheese of the edam variety. Coffee was reasonable. But, overall, this place is what it is - a decent budget hotel. We had little choice and managed to get this at late notice so we were grateful. For the price it was a bargain for one night. (I also notice they let you order takeaways from local restaurants and can have them delivered to your room! You can also bring your own food - and a fridge and cutlery are provided in each room!)

I regularly stay at this hotel and it saddens me when people do not look at what they are booking. this is a two star hotel so it is basic. If you book a budget room it's going to be extra basic however these are the things that are great. Rooms are clean Excellent wifi Tasty homemade food Friendly staff I always feel at home comfortable and relaxed. Prices are lower than other hotels in Reading that have less facilities.

Room was comfortable, adequately clean and well equipped. i.e. fridge, microwave, plates and cutlery. Nice sized car park. Friendly and comfortable bar area, although the bar didn't seem to have any soda water. Staff all very friendly and helpful. I managed to lose my wedding ring there, but it was found and posted on to me without a quibble. That sort of honesty and helpfulness is beyond price.

The rooms are outdated, had a horrible musky smell I had to buy air freshener, the extension leads weren't fitted to the walls just left hanging down, the light fitting on the wall was lose, the wallpaper was coming off the walls and it looked like they had been drawn on, beds were hard, church bells going off every hour, party's next door all night it is the worst hotel I have ever stayed in and the price of which they charge is disgusting, DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY!!!!!!

I was looking for a low cost hotel neat the University of Reading. This hotel was in easy walking distance and was cheaper than the chain hotels elsewhere in the city. Plenty of free parking. The buildings are like all those in the area - quite elderly - but at the same time not your bog standard concrete box. The room was quite large, clean and the bed was comfortable. Reading city centre is about 20 minutes walk away. Plenty of restaurants in the centre plus a very decent curry house just up the road as well. If you are after budget accommodation by the University with clean rooms and don't mind a bit of tatty decor, this is just the place to stay.

Friendly and helpful staff. Uncomfortable mattress. No air con or fan - super hot with minimal sleep. Landing light creeps through the door and curtains don't cover the street lights. Some noise creeps through especially the heavy slamming doors. Good free wifi and good bathroom facilities, everything clean and tidy although some dents and peeling wallpaper but that doesn't bother me. Happy with cleaning service and there is a fridge, kettle and hairdryer which is convenienent. Good location, 20minute talk to central and there it is a bus route, number 21 I believe. Wouldn't rush to recommend for a weeks stay but a night or two is doable.

Having a son at Reading uni, this hotel is very convenient for it's close proximity to the campus. Graduation day and we arrive to check into our room. The staff are very pleasant albeit slow and make the stay ok. An initial mix up of our room number being changed, caused red faced concern to guests and staff alike. (I was quite cross as we'd travelled 3 hours and temperatures were rising in all sense of the phrase!) However the room was ok, basic, no frills. Smell of cooking coming through a non functioning extra fan in the bathroom was not good. Hotel needs a good redecoration. Sorry Hillingdon, I don't like to leave negative reviews but you need to up your game.

Positive; The service was fine and free parking was a nice touch. The room was simple but the bed comfy and tv/ tea and coffee facilities in the room. Our room contained a fridge and a fan which in this weather was a lifesaver. Negative; Really tatty throughout the hotel Dirty marks all over the walls, bathroom extremely dated and mouldy.

Myself and my daughter separately booked 2 rooms for 4 people to stay for her graduation. Upon arrival at the check in desk we were met with confused looks by Katie, who could only find one room booked. Bearing in mind these rooms were booked on separate occasions, one on hotels.com and one booked over the phone. After being made aware that there wasn't going to be a room for us in the hotel Katie replied with "well i can't just magic a room out of thin air". We were then told to wait in the lounge area while she attempts to sort something out for us and were offered complimentary drinks... they had no rose wine and no soda water. After 30 minutes Katie eventually came back in and told us that she had got hold of a hotel that had a room for us and that she could "book us a taxi to get there" (not pay for it because of the inconvenience, just book it...). Not once throughout this whole ordeal did Katie offer an apology or any sympathy but instead acted as though it were our fault even though they messed up the bookings and caused the problem for us. When my husband called her up on this we were met with passive aggressiveness and saying "yes i do understand I'm trying my best" (still no apology). Eventually she came back and said that somebody had cancelled and they could offer a room for us in the Hillingdon, even though it was a far lesser quality room than the one we had originally booked. At no point did she attempt to reduce the price, offer a discount or any sort of complimentary breakfast because of the inconvenience she had caused. I extremely regret saying yes to this room and wish we had accepted the other hotel offer rather than give Hillingdon our money. Not only this, but in my daughter's room she pulled back the covers to get into bed and there was a large blood stain on the mattress protector that clearly had not even been washed. She went down to inform reception and Katie replied with "oh dear, let me change those for you". Still no apology for the appalling hygiene or how it would've made her feel after the evening's events. In the morning we were still expected to pay £5 for some orange juice and a croissant. Overall I have never been more appalled by someone's lack of care and customer service and the way we were just expected to deal with it and the mistake they had made and problems they caused for us. This was supposed to be a relaxing, special evening to celebrate my daughter's graduation and instead we were met with passive aggressiveness and disappointment, it completely ruined the evening. 100% would never stay here again.